Method and system for generating information-bearing audible tones

ABSTRACT

A method and system for generating one of a first and second audible tone in a telephony system including a telephony device responsive to a first signal to generate the first audible tone and responsive to a second signal to generate the second audible tone includes receiving an information signal from the telephony system and a user initiated signal from the telephony device indicating a desire to initiate a call from the telephony device. A processor processes the information signal and the user initiated signal to determine at least one of billing rate information, available services, and service control procedures associated with the desired call and generate one of the first and second signals. A dial tone generator generates one of the first and second audible tones in response to one of the first and respectively.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit and is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/064,376 filed on Apr. 22, 1998, now U.S. Pat.No. 6,594,491 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to methods and systems for generatinginformation-bearing audible tones. The basic purpose of a dial tone isto inform the user of the availability of service. In a wireline system,the dial tone indicates that facilities are available to receive digits.

However, there is no such dial tone available to users of a wirelesssystem that provides an indication to the user that the radio signalstrength available is sufficient to make a call attempt. Furthermore,the dial tone does not provide any other kind of information, such aswhether the communications service is being offered by the user's “home”service provider or by an “interconnected” or “roaming” service providerthat may provide different services, employ alternative controlprocedures, or charge higher rates. Thus, there exists a need forgenerating dial tones that provide additional information to the user.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method andsystem for generating information-bearing audible dial tones. It isanother object of the present invention to provide aninformation-bearing dial tone that is easily recognizable as a dialtone. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide aninformation-bearing dial tone that can be detected by automatedequipment: such as modems. Still further, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an information-bearing dial tone that satisfies thetelecommunications industry standard for tones.

In carrying out the above objects and other objects, features, andadvantages of the present invention, a method is provided for generatingone of a first and second audible tone in a telephony system including atelephony device responsive to a first signal to generate the firstaudible tone and responsive to a second signal to generate the secondaudible tone. The method includes receiving an information signal fromthe telephony system and receiving a user initiated signal from thetelephony device indicating a desire to initiate a call from thetelephony device. The method also includes processing the informationsignal and the user initiated signal to determine at lease one ofbilling rate information, available services, and service controlprocedures associated with the desired call and generate one of thefirst and second signals. Still further, the method includes generatingone of the first and second audible tones in response to one of thefirst and second signals, respectively.

In further carrying out the above objects and other objects, features,and advantages of the present invention, a system is also provided forcarrying out the steps of the above described method. The systemincludes means for receiving an information signal from the telephonysystem and means for receiving a user initiated signal from thetelephony device indicating a desire to initiate a call from thetelephony device. The system also includes a processor for processingthe information signal and the user initiated signal to determine atleast one of billing rate information, available services, and servicecontrol procedures associated with the desired call and generate one ofthe first and second signals. The system further includes a dial tonegenerator for generating one of the first and second audible tones inresponse to one of the first and second signals, respectively.

The above objects and other objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention are readily apparent from the following detaileddescription of the best mode for carrying out the invention when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless service environmentillustrating the use of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the general sequence of stepsassociated with the wireless service application of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the hardware associated with a wirelesstelephone capable of generating the information-bearing audible tones ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the hardware associated with a wirelinetelephone capable of generating the information-bearing audible tones ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram of a wirelessservice environment illustrating the use and operation of the presentinvention. A typical wireless service environment consists of variouscoverage areas A, B, C. Coverage areas A and B each include at least oneBase Station (BS) 10 belonging to a single wireless service provider.Each of the BSs 10 provide acceptable service as determined bysubscription, as well as signal type, strength and quality oftransmissions between a Mobile Station (MS) 12 and a BS 10.

Coverage area C is an area for which neither provider's BSs 10 providesacceptable service as determined by the subscription, as well as signaltype, strength and quality of transmissions between a MS 12 and a BS 10.When MS 12 _(a) is located in coverage area C, a dial tone would not beproduced upon an origination 10 attempt because no providers' BSs 10provide acceptable service as determined by subscription, as well assignal type, strength and quality of transmissions between MS 12 _(a)and any provider's BSs 10.

When the MS 12 _(b) is located within coverage area A, as shown in FIG.1, one and only one provider's BSs 10 provide acceptable service. Thus,upon an origination attempt, MS 12 _(b) would produce a normal dial toneif and only if MS 12 _(b) is registered to an account of a subscriber ofthe provider offering service via one or more BSs 10 in area A and/orsoftware in MS 12 _(b) defines the provider offering service as a “home”provider. The normal dial tone may consist of the standard dial tonefrequencies, i.e., simultaneous and continuous 350 Hz and 440 Hz audibletones, or any other suitable dial tone. On the other hand, MS 12 _(b)would produce a “roaming” dial tone upon an origination attempt if MS 12_(b), is registered to an account of a subscriber of a provider with aroaming agreement with the provider offering service via one or more BSs10 in area A and/or software in MS 12 _(b) defines the provider offeringservice as an acceptable “roaming” provider. The roaming dial tone isgenerally an easily differentiable variation of the standard, or normal,dial tone. As an example, the normal dial tone may be the standardsimultaneous and continuous 350 Hz and 440 Hz audible tones, asmentioned above, while the roaming dial tone may correspond to acontinuous 350 Hz tone and a cyclical 440 Hz tone. The 440 Hz tone maybreak for 50 milliseconds every two seconds, beginning at 450milliseconds after onset of the dial tone. This short break issufficiently long to be easily noticed by human users, while allowingautomated dial tone detectors to function properly. Furthermore, thisroaming dial tone may be detected by automated equipment, such as modemsand facsimile machines.

Similarly, when MS 12 _(c) is located in coverage area B, MS 12 _(c)would produce a normal dial tone upon an origination attempt if and onlyif MS 12 _(c) is registered to an account of a subscriber of theprovider offering service via one or more BSs 10 in area B and/orsoftware in MS 12 _(b) defines the provider offering service as a “home”provider. Likewise, MS 12 _(c) would produce a “roaming dial tone” uponan origination attempt if MS 12 _(c) is registered to an account of asubscriber of a provider with a roaming agreement with the provideroffering service via one or more BSs 10 in area B and/or software in MS12 _(b) defines the provider offering service as an acceptable “roaming”provider.

At the intersection of coverage areas A and B, two or more providers'BSs 10 provide acceptable service 30 as determined by subscription, aswell as signal type, strength and quality of transmissions between MS 12_(d), and two or more providers' BSs 10. In this case, upon anorigination attempt, MS 12 _(d) would generally produce a normal dialtone if and only if MS 12 _(d) is registered to an account of asubscriber of the provider offering service via one or more BSs 10 ineither area A or area B and/or software in MS 12 _(b) defines theprovider offering service as a “home” provider. MS 12 _(d) would alsoobtain service from the subscriber's subscribed provider, i.e., thesubscriber's “home” service provider. This is because MS 12 _(d)contains a list of acceptable providers and their preference ordering.The preference ordering would, in general, prefer BSs 10 of thesubscribed provider, i.e., the “home” BSs 10.

If, however, MS 12 _(d) is not registered to an account of a subscriberof a provider offering service in either area A or B and/or software inMS 12 _(b) defines the provider offering service as an acceptable“roaming” provider, then MS 12 _(d) would produce a roaming dial toneupon an origination attempt. MS 12 _(d) would then obtain service fromthe preferred, but not “home”, provider according to a table look-up ofacceptable providers as determined by subscription, as well as signaltype, strength and quality of transmissions between MS 12 _(d) and twoor more providers' BSs 10.

Some exceptions to the above are possible under some circumstances.These exceptions include, but are not limited to, allowing user controlactions to override MS 12 software-guided preferences, and. allowingautomated or manual provider system control actions that override MS 12software-guided preferences and/or user control actions, e.g., trafficload or system outage management actions. Under these exceptionconditions, a normal dial tone is produced when the resulting attempt tooriginate a call is through BSs 10 that are part of the subscriber'ssubscribed or “home” system. Otherwise, a roaming dial tone is produced.The result for the user is immediate knowledge of whether originationmay be expected to take place on the home or roaming systems with allresulting consequences, e.g., airtime rates, minute quota impacts,feature availability, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating thegeneral sequence of steps associated with the method of the presentinvention when utilized in the wireless service environment. The methodbegins with the MS 12 powering ON and/or entering a coverage area havingone or more BSs 10, as shown at block 20. The MS 12 receivesinterpretable signal(s) from one or more BSs 10 that identify thesystem(s) to which each BS 10 belongs, as shown at block. 22. Aninterpretable signal is a signal of compatible technology as the MS 12,having sufficient strength and recognizably coded.

A processor 14 associated with the MS 12, FIG. 3, then searches aninternal memory storage 16 to determine which, if any, of the systemsbelong to an acceptable service provider, as shown at block 24. Anacceptable provider is identified as the system of a non-subscribedprovider recognized as providing service of quality and on termsacceptable to the subscribed provider as programmed in the memory 16.Among the acceptable providers, a search is performed to determine thepreferred provider.

Next, the MS 12 acquires the preferred system and continues to searchfor a more preferred system, as shown at block 26. Then upon a userorigination attempt, the a dial tone generator 18 generates the normaldial tone if the currently acquired system is its “home” system, asshown at block 28. Otherwise, the dial tone generator 18 generates theroaming dial tone for receipt by the subscriber.

The present invention can also be utilized in conjunction with awireline service environment. In this case, a wireline telephone 40,shown in FIG. 4, is continuously powered ON and physically connected toa wired termination of a facilities-based Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)42. The LEC 42 is a local exchange services provider that owns orotherwise controls the physical facilities that provide local accesstelephone services, e.g., local central office switch, loop facilities,terminations, etc. The wired station (WS) 40 is connected to a dial tonegenerator 44 of the LEC 42, which is also in communication with aprocessor 46. The dial tone generator 44 generates either the normaldial tone or the “roaming” dial tone for receipt by the subscriber basedon an instruction, or signal, from the processor 46.

The processor 46 is in communication with a subscriber list, or tablelook-up memory, 48. Memory 48 includes a list identifying whether thesubscriber is a subscriber of the LEC 42 or of an Interconnected LocalExchange Carrier (ILEC). An ILEC is a local exchange services providerthat leases or otherwise contracts for the use and operation of physicalfacilities owned or otherwise controlled by a LEC.

Prior to dialing by the subscriber, the WS 40 goes offhook. At this timea determination is made as to whether the wired termination of the WS 40is subscribed to by either the LEC or the ILEC according to the memory48. If the WS 40 wired termination is determined by the processor 46 tobe subscribed to the LEC, the dial tone generator 44 generates thenormal dial tone. On the other hand, if the wired termination isdetermined to be subscribed to an ILEC by the processor 46, then dialtone generator 44 generates the roaming dial tone.

Thus, in either environment, the subscriber can know whether service isbeing offered by their “home” service provider or by other“interconnected” or “roaming” service providers. The subscriber is thenaware of any different available services, service control procedures orbilling rates to be assessed the current call at the time of the callrather than at the time of receiving a communications bill.

While the best modes for carrying out the invention have been describedin detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relateswill recognize various alternative designs and embodiments forpracticing the invention as defined by the following claims. Forexample, the present invention is not limited to only two different dialtones. It should be appreciated by one skilled in the art thatadditional different dial tones may similarly be generated for receiptby the subscriber based on additional information. Such additional dialtones, however, is limited by the subscriber's ability to distinguisheach of the dial tones from each other.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a telephony system including a wirelesstelephony device, a method for transmitting a wireless call, comprising:receiving a third signal, wherein the third signal indicates a desire torender the wireless telephony device operational; receiving a firstsignal from the wireless telephony device, wherein the first signalindicates a desire to transmit a call from the telephony device, andwherein the first signal is distinct from the third signal; receiving asecond signal from a telephony network, wherein the second signalprovides information about a relationship of the telephony device to thetelephony network; upon reception of the first signal, indicating astatus derived from the second signal; wherein the step of indicating astatus comprises providing a first continuous dial tone when thewireless telephone device is in a first region and providing secondcyclical dial tone when the wireless telephony device is in a secondregion, and wherein both the first dial tone and second dial tone aredetectable by automated equipment; and awaiting a confirmation of thefirst signal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephony device isa cellular telephone.
 3. The method of claim 2, the method furthercomprising receiving the confirmation, wherein the confirmation is inthe form of a send signal.
 4. The method of claim 1, the method furthercomprising: receiving the confirmation of the first signal; andinitiating transmission of the call.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first dial tone comprises a simultaneous and continuous tones atapproximately 350 and 440 Megahertz, and wherein the second dial tonecomprises a simultaneous tone at approximately 350 Megahertzsimultaneous with a cyclical dial tone of approximately 440 Megahertz.6. In a telephony system including a cellular telephone, a method fortransmitting a wireless call, comprising: receiving a first signal fromthe cellular telephone, wherein the first signal indicates a desire totransmit a call from the cellular telephone; receiving a second signalfrom a telephony network, wherein the second signal provides informationabout a relationship of the cellular telephone to the telephony network;receiving a third signal, wherein the third signal indicates a desire torender the cellular telephone operational; and after receiving the firstsignal, indicating a status derived from the second signal; wherein thestep of indicating a status comprises providing a first continuous dialtone when the cellular telephone is in a first region and providing asecond cyclical dial tone when the cellular telephone is in a secondregion, and wherein both the first dial tone and the second dial toneare detectable by automated equipment.
 7. The method of claim 6, themethod further comprising requesting a confirmation, wherein therequested confirmation is in the form of a send signal.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, the method further comprising: receiving a confirmation of thefirst signal; and initiating transmission of a call.
 9. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the first dial tone comprises a simultaneous andcontinuous tones at approximately 350 and 440 Megahertz, and wherein thesecond dial tone comprises a simultaneous tone at approximately 350Megahertz simultaneous with a cyclical dial tone of approximately 440Megahertz.
 10. In a transmission system including a transmission device,a method for transmitting information wirelessly, comprising: receivinga first signal, wherein the first signal indicates a desire to power onthe transmission device; receiving a second signal distinct from thefirst signal, wherein the second signal indicates a desire to transmitinformation from the transmission device; receiving a third signal,wherein the third signal provides information about a relationship ofthe transmission device to the transmission system; upon reception ofthe second signal, indicating a status derived from the third signal, byproviding a first continuous dial tone when the transmission device isin a first region and by providing a second cyclical dial tone where thetransmission device is in a second region, wherein both the first andsecond dial tones are detectable by automated equipment; and awaiting aconfirmation of the second signal.
 11. A telephony device fortransmitting information wirelessly via a transmission system, thetelephony device comprising: a microprocessor; a power on input; atransmission origination input; a computer readable medium, wherein thecomputer readable medium includes instructions executable by themicroprocessor to: receive a first signal via the transmissionorigination input, wherein the first signal indicates a desire totransmit information from the telephony device; receive a second signalvia the transmission system, wherein the second signal providesinformation about a relationship of the telephony device to thetransmission system; upon reception of the first signal, indicating astatus derived from the second signal, by providing a first continuousdial tone when the telephone device is in a first region and byproviding a second cyclical dial tone where the telephone device is in asecond region, wherein both the first and second dial tones aredetectable by automated equipment; and awaiting a confirmation of thefirst signal.